“Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist” Wins 2016 CFR Book Award

The Council on Foreign Relations has selected Niall Ferguson’s Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist as the winner of its 2016 Arthur Ross Book Award.

Gideon Rose, editor of the council’s Foreign Affairs magazine, praised the book for “moving past the myths, legends, and hyperbole surrounding the highest profile American statesman of the second half of the twentieth century, producing a fascinating and engaging portrait of a unique, and uniquely important, historical figure.”

Ferguson’s book is the first of a two-part volume on the life and career of Kissinger, former national security advisor and secretary of state in the Nixon and Ford administrations. The book has also been recognized by The New York Times Book Review, The Guardian, and The Economist, which called it “magisterial … a work of engrossing scholarship.”

The Arthur Ross Book Award is given annually by the Council on Foreign Relations to recognize books that make an outstanding contribution to the understanding of foreign policy or international relations. The prize, endowed by Arthur Ross in 2001, is for nonfiction works from the past year, in English or translation, that merit special attention for changing the understanding of events or problems, offering insights into critical issues, or introducing ideas that help resolve foreign policy problems. Winners are selected by an independent jury of Council on Foreign Relations members.